Christ Revealed in His Own Word #28
“Neurosis #4 Obsession”
Sunday Morning, July 14, 1996
Brian Kocourek, Pastor Grace Fellowship
[ 2 Timothy 3: 1] AMPLIFIED: But understand this, that in the last days
there will set in perilous times of great
stress and trouble - hard to deal
with and hard to bear
[ Isaiah 59: 19 - 60: 3] When the enemy shall come in like a flood,
the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. Now the translation for the words
here " to lift up a standard
against him" is just one Hebrew word, nuwc. So we are promised by God
Himself that when the enemy shall come on like a flood, the Lord will intervene
on our behalf. Now what does it suggest to us by the words, " Like a flood?"
And notice when
this happens what the Lord is going to do to the enemy. He's going to do
what? It's spelled Nuwc...How would
you pronounce that in English? NUKE? So what's the Lord going to do to the
Devil? He's going to Nuke him. Fry him in the holy fire of God!
[ Joel 2: 1-3] Notice that the Fire going before them is the Pillar of Fire. We
see this in [ Deut 9:3] and [ Psalm
97:3] & [ Exodus 13: 21-22] Notice the Pillar of fire by night. [ Isaiah
60: 1-3]
So we see that
although we are living in a truly dark and dismal time, yet "in the
evening time there shall be light."
Now remember, when we speak of darkness we are speaking of a time when
men's understanding is dark. The Scripture is not speaking of the sun
light getting darker. Not the S.U.N.
anyway, but the S.O.N. light is what has gotten darker in the minds of the people.
Remember, even History records the age when men were under the dominance of the
Catholic church as the dark ages. Not dark because the S.U.N. did not shine,
but under Catholicism men's minds were stunted and there was no real growth
mentally.
We even find the
Scripture refer to the darkening of the minds of men in [ Romans 1: 21] And remember the heart speaks of understanding. [ Eph 4:17-18]
So you see when the nations go completely insane, it is
do to their minds having become darkened tot he Word of God. [ John
3: 19-20]. And while the world is
groping in darkness, We have the greatest Message and greatest Light that has
ever illuminated. But what good is this Message doing us if we do not take it
to heart. We must take it to heart, or we shall certainly perish. And why are
men perishing? They are losing their ability to think with Godly thoughts and
they are fast becoming filled with every kind of evil thoughts as it was in the
days of Noah.
[ Genesis 6: 5, 11-12] [Amplified ] And God saw that the purpose and intentions of man's thinking brought
forth only evil and wicked inventions. ...11- the people of the earth had
become depraved and actually putrid in God's sight, (to the point that God
wanted to spew them out of His mouth) Doesn't that remind you of Rev 3,
the Laodicean condition? and
the land was filled with violence, desecration, outrage, assault and lust for
power). 12- and God looked upon the
world and saw how degenerate, debased and vicious man had become; for all
humanity had corrupted their way upon the earth and lost their true direction. And so then we find that God sent forth a
Message of warning to come into the ark and be saved. But just as it was then,
many people heard the Midnight cry, but only a very few people took it to
heart.
Now, with this in
mind, this evening I would like to continue where we left off on Sunday, from
pp. 20 & 21 of "Christ Revealed In His Own Word"
where Brother Branham said,
(20) Men now and
people today are in such a neurotic condition, the whole world... (21) The whole human race is rotten. Well,
if them physical beings of our body is tearing down like that from eating hybrid foods, tensions, that rotten it,
does not that also rot the brain cell? It's
come to a place where the whole nation, the whole world, not only this nation,
but everywhere, mentally gone.
Now Wednesday
evening we continued our focus on Brother Branham's statement that the whole
world is neurotic, Because he said it is "the hybrid foods and the tensions
that are rotting the bodies and the minds of the people." And I've heard a lot of sermons about the
hybrid food but he also said the tensions or stress are a very critical thing
in the undoing of the human race. And
you will notice that the Amplified Translation of [2 Tim 3:1] tells us
these are times of great tension and stress that will be hard to deal with and
hard to bear.
In examining this
neurotic condition that Brother Branham
is speaking of that has certainly and evidently taken over the entire world, we
must go to the root word from which the word neurotic comes from and that word
is Neurosis according to Webster. And Neurosis is defined as: Any of various Psychic, or mental,
functional disorders characterized by one or several of the following
reactions: ANXIETY, COMPULSIONS and
OBSESSIONS, PHOBIAS, DEPRESSION, and DISASSOCIATION.
On Sunday we
examined the first attribute which is
anxiety and we found out that anxiety is defined by Webster as being a
state of being uneasy or apprehensive,
or worried about what may
happen; concern about a possible
future event. The Psychological effects of anxiety are worry and nervous
tensions. So we see that it has
nothing to do with today, but what might happen tomorrow.
[ Mark
4: 18 - 20] Notice that it is the
cares of this life which creep in and choke off the Life that is in the Word.
And so this is a warning to us to be careful not to get so caught up into the
things of this world as to allow them to take over sole dominance of our lives.
Now the Greek word used here for CARES
is the word Merimna which means the anxieties of this Life. And I want you to notice that the word
anxieties is defined by Webster as being a state of being uneasy or
apprehensive, or worried about what may
happen; concern about a possible future event. The Psychological effects of
anxiety are worry and nervous tensions.
[ Luke 21: 31 - 36] Notice, this
condition is to come upon every one who dwells upon the face of the earth. So
it is a world wide condition, and it has to do with our focus. If our focus is on the things of this world,
then we will be caught up into these anxieties which are a snare to us. But if
our focus is upon Christ and His Promises that He has for us at this end-time
hour, then we will be able to overcome
this snare or trap. Did not Jesus tell
us "if the man of the house had know what hour the thief was coming, he
would have prepared his home and he would not have suffered the thief to break
in." Our focus should be
on standing in the presence of the Son of Man as Jesus tells us here. We should
not be concerned with the cares of this life, because they are considered a
snare to the real things that God has in store for us. And remember people, every time we see
people caught in a trap in the scriptures, they were destroyed.
[Matt 6: 24-34] we are actually
commanded to take no thought for tomorrow, pertaining to what she shall eat or
wear Don't worry about tomorrow,
because after all each day their is enough to think about? And if you worry
about tomorrow, then you only compound your troubles. Because not only do you
have today's troubles, but tomorrow's as well.
·
Q & A COD
64-0823M] If you worry, it'll
break your health down, and that's what Satan wants to do. So you see worry
will only tear your health down and that is what Satan wants to do. He wants to
distract you from where we should really be focused, and that is in
Christ. So just commit yourself and
your family to Christ and keep moving on.
·
[ Eccl 11: 9-10] Be
happy young man while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the
days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see,
but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment ( so,
in other words, just keep your life lined up with His Word) So then, banish anxiety from
your heart, and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are
meaningless.
·
[ 1 Peter 5: 6 - 10]
"Casting all your anxieties upon Him for He careth for you."
·
[ Phil 4: 6-7] Do not be anxious about anything, but
in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests
to God. And the peace which transcends all understanding, will guard your
hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Wednesday tonight focused our attention on the 2nd attribute of neurosis that Webster
speaks of and it is COMPULSION. Compulsion
is a compelling or being compelled; ( And the word compel has to do with a forcing of the issue, an "in
your face attitude"). We hear so much today the expression, "with an attitude!" But did you
know that this was spoken of by the Word of God to be this way? Webster goes on to describe COMPULSION as
being an "irresistible, repeated,
irrational impulse to perform some act."
Now we are warned
that men will be this way in [ 2 Tim 3:
: But
understand this, that in the last days there will set in perilous times of
great stress and trouble - hard to deal with and hard to bear. For people will
be lovers of self and utterly self-centered,... Now, in verse [ 3 ] we read that men will be incontinent.
This word incontinent means they are without
self control which is why they are compulsive. They have no self control
and therefore they are out of control.
Now, I want you
to notice how this attribute is picked up in [ Rev 3: 14 - 19 ] (read) They have a mindset that is fixed on
material things and they don't even know that these things has blinded them the
reality of the hour. It's not uncommon
today to hear the expression, "He's a compulsive gambler." In
fact there was a time that gambling was not only considered sinful, but even
those who were not Christians, but were just average citizens considered
gambling to be a sickness that needed to be treated medically or
psychologically. It was considered an illegal, immoral blight upon society that
only the low moral societal misfits would get involved in. The Crooks and
lowlifes. Yet today just about every state has gone to gambling to fill up
their coffers. Casino's flourish and
state lotteries are even pushed upon the people. There was a time that the common folks in America would not go
near a gambling hall, now the papers are full of stories about how many people
are being employed by these casino's, and how the waiting lists are filled with
people wanting to go to work for them.
The ME
generation. The, "I want it and I
want it now, generation!" People no longer have the patience to wait
for anything. They have got to have it now, now, now. Years ago a couple would
get married and work hard to save what they could so that one day they would be
able to afford to own a home. Then their first home would usually be a starter
home with a couple bed rooms and pretty small in general without much of the
trappings as they call it. Eventually, after they have worked hard for twenty
years or so they would move up into a larger home and use the equity they had
built up to do so. But today, the kids get married and they have to have a Palace and two new cars and a race boat and
what ever else their minds can think of and yet they don't have the money to
really afford these things. So what happens is they go way into debt. And as a
result the tension between them is so great you can cut the air with a knife
and their marriages are dissolving at a 50% clip. In fact I heard just the
other day that the latest statistic is that young people getting married today
have only a 30% chance of their marriage lasting for the duration of their
life. And what is causing much of it.
The Me first generation of spoiled rotten kids. And who is to blame? The
parents are to blame. Brother Branham said, it isn't child delinquency, it's
parent delinquency. I heard another
survey on the radio the other day where they had interviewed parents who had
children in their forty's and fifty's who were still asking mom and dad to help
them out financially. One man who retired as a painter, has already helped his
son to buy his third house, this one laying out $55,000. Another Father, gave his 42 year old
daughter $4,500 to buy a large screen TV because they didn't have the money
because they had just spent $2,000 on a stereo set, and this couple made good
wages, but they take two skiing vacations every year, and two cruises. And yet
they have no shame in going to mom and dad for help. Their dad said, he still
drives his 1979 Buick while the kids are living high of the hog and have the
gaul to ask for his help, and yet he complains, but still dishes out the bucks.
It's incredible what's happening today. The kids don't know what it means to do
without. They don't no what it means to wait.
COMPULSION.... and Brother Branham called it NEUROTICS! So we see that self
constraint is a very important thing which will be hardly found in the
end-time. Just look at our President. He can hardly constrain himself when it
comes to money, women and popularity. He's not satisfied with adultery, but he
is a breaker of every one of the ten commandments. And not just once in a great
while. It seems that he repeatedly
breaks them day by day. Compulsion is a compelling or being
compelled; irresistible, repeated, irrational impulse to perform some act. Which is basically a losing control
of oneself. Now there is nothing wrong
with having desires for things. But when the desires become overwhelming and
they take control and the person loses control of their ability to constrain
themselves, then something is definitely out of kilter somewhere.
Now, there is
another part of this COMPULSION that I want you to take note. It is the thought
that COMPULSION
is a compelling or being compelled. So this is not only an attribute of neurosis here that may be self
inflicted, but it can also be inflicted by others, as in being compelled. This
shows an outside influence upon another.
We examined [ 2 Chron 21: 5 - 15] [
Acts 26: 9 - 11] [ Gal 2: 1-14] and found that in all
these scriptures a common thread of political pressure upon the people to cause
them to conform to someone else's thinking, and actually causing the people to
go into error. God wants to control our
thoughts, and He doesn't want our thoughts subjected to any man except the Man
Christ Jesus.
Now, as you know this is the hour that [ 2Thes 1: 10] is to take place. He has
come to be Glorified IN His Saints. And yet He does not force Himself upon us,
but He is patiently waiting for us to hunger and thirst after His Right-wise-ness. But with politics it is always
different.
Through Politics,
we have not only lost more personal freedoms in this nation since Mr. Clinton
took control, but in the churches well we see politics dominating the people.
People have come to the place that they are no longer led by their own
conscience, but they are led by the conscience of others. And when that happens
satan has gotten the victory.
COMPULSION, we have found has to do with a forcing
of the mind into a certain condition or mental mind set. I have a book called ROMANISM A MENACE TO THIS NATION
that was printed around 1902 and in it Cardinal Martinelli, the Prelate of
Chicago, and who was Jesuit trained, was quoted as saying, "the
goal of the Catholic church was to destroy the educational system in America."
I also have another book called, "the
devil in the Church and His snares laid to destroy Our Public Schools"
which was written in 1902 . In this book we find the sinister plan that was
laid out by the Catholic church to destroy our public schools. And I think they
have been very successful in doing so by corrupting the teachers unions and
forcing their liberal agenda's in the schools, the people have lost confidence
in a system that at one time was very Bible based and actually held the
Catholic church at bay because of the kind of text that was used. Today the
text, even history itself has been rewritten blotting out any acknowledgment of
God and His Influence upon the history of the nations.
[ Mat 23: 13] They won't go in themselves, and neither will they suffer those
who are entering to go in.
[ Romans 1: 16] And so what do they do?
They hold down the Truth using unrighteousness. And how do they suppress the Truth? By holding it back from the
people. And it's not just the churches, look at our Media today. They will not
print anything that would expose their way of thinking and it's error. Even the
Europeans have more in their papers about the Clintons escapades than we do in
our press here. The devils way has always be misinformation because after all
it works. Brother Branham said a lie that is 99 % true is the most powerful lie
because it tells almost all of the story true but then puts a spin on it to
make it a lie. Well, what then are the spin doctors but liars who take the truth
and twist it to fit their political objective. I want you to notice how they force or compel others to follow
them. Way back In the beginning to eat
from the tree caused death, but now, not
to eat is death. The serpent seduced Eve. These men do not beat up their
congregations in order to force or compel them not to eat. They seduce them
away from the truth by telling lies about it.
[ Proverbs 7: 21-27] I want you to notice verse 21 again ( read) Notice by her flattery
she forces him with her fair speeches.
Now the 3rd attribute of neurosis is Obsession: In which Webster defines as the
act of an evil spirit in possessing or ruling a person. Having such a persistent idea, desire or
emotion that one can not get rid of it. Brother Branham said, you can
feed a habit or keep nurturing a habit and after a while it will take on a life
of it's own becoming a spirit possession. Then it is demon possession. I don't
care if it has to do with women or sports or even food. A demon is a demon. And
if it is not natural, it's demonic.
[ 1 Tim 4: 1] Seducing Spirit's and
Doctrines of Devil's. The People being
seduced into believing The Lie and then they are damned by it. Why, Because you
can't turn them away from it. They love a lie and will be damned by the thing
they love. [ 2 Thess 2: 10 - 12] & [ John
3: 19 - 20] & [ 2 Tim 3: 7 ] They can't come to the
understanding of the Truth because they will not give up their own thinking.
They will not
Receive [ John 14: 12 ] because of
[Proverbs 14: 12] which says,
"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are
the ways of death" They
will not let their own thinking go. They are possessed by what their own minds
want to tell them and they are not willing to let go of their own thinking and
receive a correct thinking based upon vindication.
Talk about what
the devil can do when he possesses a person and how much more God can do when
He possesses a person.
White-house slogan, Hillary Rotten-ham Clinton " fake
it til you make it"
E-18
GO.WAKE.JESUS TUCSON.AZ 63-1103
Because he is so fully surrendered to the evil one, it took
possession of him, and he had not his
own understanding. He only did what the evil spirit put in him to do.
126 LEAN NOT UNTO THY OWN UNDERSTANDING 65-0120
Now, in Luke 17:30, He said, "And as it
was in the days of Lot, when the Angel of the Lord..."
Now, He was reading
the same Bible we are. And when He... Go back and find out what kind of day it
was before Noah's rain. Go back and find out what kind of a day it was before
the world was destroyed in the days of Lot. Find out what it was, and you see
what Jesus was talking about. "In
the days of Noah, they was eating, drinking, marrying, and given in marriage;
knew it not until Noah entered into the ark, and the flood come, taken them all
away." In the days of Lot just
before the world was--the fire burned the Gentile world, the Sodomites, there
were homosexuals, perversions, everything in the world. A great... It was a
modern Los Angeles; not a modern only Los Angeles, but a United States; not
only in United States, but a world. It sure was perversion. Men lost their natural source of life and their natural
understandings of common sense, become perverted by an evil spirit that
changed the whole course of their natural life, and they were possessed with
demon spirits. If that ain't the picture of the days of Noah, I don't know it,
and in the days of Lot, I mean. In days of Noah also, eating, drinking,
marrying, given in marriage, divorce courts filling, and everything, just like
it was.
118
LEAN.NOT.UNTO.THY.OWN.UNDERSTANDING
PHOENIX.AZ V-19 N-3 65-0120
You know, the Bible
said you can believe a lie and be damned by it. See? That's exactly the truth.
They form, no matter what the Word of
God says, they lean to their own understanding. They lean on it; they
believe it; they think it's the Truth.
You can keep believing a lie over and over and over till it's the truth to you.
That's right. But how do we know
whether it's Truth or not? God proved it's Truth, 'cause it's in His Word and
He a-vindicates It. He does His own interpretation of It. How do they do, get to this? They do it by
their culture, their education, of their understandings of their--the degree of
doctor's degree, and so forth, that they have come from some certain seminary
and learned these things.
[ 1 Kings 18:21] how halt ye between two
opinions? How long will you be lame
and stopped in your forward movement? AMP How long will you be halt and limp between two opinions? NIV How long will you waver between two
opinions? NAS How long will you
hesitate between these two opinions?
82 COUNTDOWN BAKF.CA
V-22 N-9 64-0209
But man always counts backwards, starts at ten. "Ten,
nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, zero." What does God do? He starts with His number,
seven. That's God's number. Watch Him: seven. Oh, He counts ahead, starting with one. He starts with His first
church age. That's what His symbols was on earth. There's seven church ages. He
made the world in seven days; seventh day He rested. That's His last number in
His creation. He rested. Notice, He counts straight ahead, not
backwards. He goes forward. He starts from His first church age, which
begin at A.D. 33, and He started the countdown. He counted His church ages.
But at each
Exodus what has happened to the people? They wanted to go back. They had it set
in their minds what they wanted and they did not want to move forward with God.
In Moses day they wanted to go back to Egypt which is a type of the Pentecostal
church with it's garlics and leaks, and in Paul's day they wanted to go back
into the law which is legalism. "Train
up a child in the way it shall go and when it gets older it will not
depart." "The
way a tree leaneth that is the way it shall fall."
[ Mark 4: 24] "Take heed how you hear, for with
what measuring stick you measure it with, it shall be measured back to you
."
[Genesis 19: 26] Lot's wife crystallized when she quit moving
on with the Word of God. What happened? First her mind stopped then her body
did. First her mind crystallized then her body became transformed into her
revelation.
82 ISRAEL IN THE
HOMELAND 53-0329
And now, the first thing you know, the Pillar
of Fire has begin to move again. But Pentecost is so organized, it can't
go...?... It was so organized,
crystallized until it can't go. That's right. That's true. But the Pillar of Fire is moving out,
brother, and there's people that's going with It. Hallelujah. We're bound
for the promised land. Yes, sir.
63 YOU MUST BE BORN
AGAIN 61-1231M
No life in the serpent, it was absolutely
crystallized. That was the penalty..
ANOINTED ONES AT END TIME 65-0725M
Notice! Come up to the
borderline and quit. Pp.195 Going to
their home, and when they come up to the place to cross over, they doubted the
Word!........What happened? They perished in the wilderness. They stayed right
there and organized themselves, and
died, every one of them,........
pp.198 "Where the carcass
is there will the eagles be gathered......Where the fresh meat is, the Word
of the Season, there the eagles will gather." But after it's rottened
then the vultures will swarm to it. See, see? See what I mean? When a kill 's
made here comes the eagles, but after it lays there and rotten, then here come
the vultures. The eagles won't have nothing to do with it. Jesus said,
"Where the carcass is, where the
manna fell, the night the manna falls fresh, there the eagles will gather for
it." That's the manna for the day. See? Pp.214 Notice! But
after it gets rotten, maggots get in it, then here comes the vultures. They
can't smell it till it gets rotten.
Pp.215 Said, "I AM sent me." I AM, not I was, or will be, I AM,
present tense, the Word now. Not the Word that was or Word that will come, the
Word that's now. Pp.219 Now, you go back and try to live again --go
back after that old shuck's dried up, ever go back and live in it again? It
never does. "For it is impossible for those which were once enlightened
and didn't move on with the Word as it
come to pass..." They're dead, gone pp. 233
Do you have a habit that is standing between you and God?
Remember, Habits can be repeated over and over until they take on a life of
their own. Then you have demon possession. Do you have a habit that has stopped
you dead in your tracks and you find it difficult moving on with God? Then
let's lay it down at the altar of his Presence this morning. Let's pray........